Happy New Year Oliver?
by Knightwood
Summary: New Year is a time for reflection. Sometimes it's a very lonely time, especially for a superhero. Oliver centred.


This is my first attempt at a Smallville fanfic. Any and all comments are welcome. Hope you enjoy it.

**Legal Notice: **I do not own Smallville or the associated names, places, events, characters etc. Anything not covered by the above rights is to be considered the creation of the author.

**Rating: **T - May be mild adult themes.

A little way short of midnight, a young man sat alone in a ski lodge nestled deep within the Swiss Alps, far from prying eyes. To the rest of the world, it would be an idyllic way for a man his age to be spending New Year, but it was far from the way he'd choose to spend it.

Oliver's muscles still ached from the strain of his latest mission. Almost two years since beginning his endless crusade for justice, and all he seemed to have to show for it was pain. His muscles ached from the exertion of battle. Bruises burned all over his body from the multiple injuries he'd endured at the hands of security personnel, who probably had no idea who they were fighting for. He put down the ice-pack he had been holding to his face to reduce the swelling in his cheek, and took out a couple of ice cubes, dumping them into a tumbler.

He wasn't a drinker by any measure. He was practically teetotal save for the few occasions he was required to put in an appearance as Oliver Queen at some fundraiser or socialite party where the rich and powerful gathered to make polite conversation and pretend they gave a damn about anything but themselves. However, the last mission had taken a real toll on him and his team, and so they had convinced him that it was time to take a break. The fact that it meant they got New Year off was just a bonus. Victor needed to run some diagnostics on some of his damaged systems, while Bart, Arthur and Dinah all needed to rest up from their brutal encounter with Luthorcorp's goons. He'd never admit it, but he kind of needed to rest up too.

He picked up a crystal decanter of Scotch. The late Lionel Luthor had given him that when he first arrived in Metropolis to begin his campaign as the Green Arrow. He had been so busy, in all that time; he hadn't even cracked the seal. He decided that tonight was as good a night as any and cracked it open, pouring himself a large glass, before hitting the communication link on his laptop, accessing the secure link.

"Oliver?" Chloe asked him, viewing him on the monitor. He normally only checked in when he wanted her t do something for her.

"Use the codenames Watchtower." He groaned a little wearily.

"Oliver, we're using a secure line, no one can trace this." She reminded him. "Besides, you're the one sitting in your costume without your hood and your glasses. I think more people will be able to identify you from your face than your first name."

"They're my rules Watchtower; do as I say, not as I do now use the damn codenames!" He roared, before tossing back some scotch. Chloe was more than a little taken aback. Oliver was never the kind of guy to raise his voice like that.

"Sure thing Green Arrow." She replied, her brow creasing a little. She didn't appreciate being barked at like that. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing important." He sighed, thinking about it. He didn't even know why he was contacting her. He really didn't have anything to talk about. "I just wanted to let you know we're going to be lying low for a week or two. We won't be in contact for a while."

"OK, so you needed to use the secure line to tell me this urgently?" She asked sarcastically.

"Happy New Year." He replied, pouring himself some more scotch. Chloe was now both concerned and confused. She knew he didn't make a habit of drinking. Certainly not alone, and he usually didn't use the secure line for season's greetings.

"Sure, Happy New Year to you too." She answered. "Call me if you need anything OK?"

With that, he signed off. He pulled the icepack back together and held it to his cheekbone with his left hand as he picked up the glass in his right and took another sip before putting it back down. He clicked another button on his laptop, accessing his link to a surveillance system tap. He scanned around, looking for his intended target, finding her. The only woman he'd ever loved, the only woman he'd ever held in his heart. Lois Lane.

Having tapped into the surveillance system of Metropolis' security cameras, he had tracked her all the way to an up-market restaurant. He knew because of the time difference, that it would be five or six hours before she would be toasting in the New Year. No doubt she had arranged some kind of get-together for then.

He could still remember everything about her in vivid detail, and he it made his heart ache not to be with her. He could see even from this angle that she was smiling. It was that same smile that most could never tell if it was sincere or sarcastic that had entranced him when he first met her. She always looked amazing when she made an effort. She wore a simple yet elegant black cocktail dress. He could remember getting her that for one of the functions he'd dragged her to back in the day. She sat at the table, the first to arrive for once. He'd never known her to arrive early for anything. Eventually Chloe and Jimmy joined him at the table.

"I thought you said no costumes upstairs." Victor commented as he arrived in the room through the false bookcase. Oliver hadn't even noticed him coming up in the hidden elevator. Like most of the other buildings in the Queen Empire; this ski lodge had its secrets. In this case, a bunker built almost two miles underground, accessible only through a hidden elevator. He wanted to have as many locations they could to launch their operations from as possible. He could hardly centre his worldwide campaign from Metropolis.

"Our nearest neighbours are over ten miles away." He reminded his team-mate, taking another sip and shutting the lid on his laptop. "I own the surrounding slopes remember?"

"So what's with moping in the dark drinking alone?" Victor asked him, gesturing to the glass.

"It's New Year's Eve." Oliver reminded him. "I thought everyone drank at New Year."

"You know what I mean." Victor replied, placing a hand on his forearm to attract his attention. Oliver flinched slightly and looked down, seeing the cold metal against his arm. Victor had needed to run repairs and he'd obviously not applied the synthetic skin compound to cover his cybernetics yet. "The party's downstairs. If you hurry, you'll get to see Bart getting the brush-off from Dinah. He's been trying his luck all night."

It was only at that point that Oliver realised that night had fallen. He had been sitting in his study for so long that it was now completely dark, the only light being supplied by the roaring fireplace, giving the room a warm, ethereal glow. He re-filled his glass.

"I don't feel in much of a celebrating mood." He muttered as he took another drink.

"Are you kidding? We've been doing amazing work!" Victor stated. "We've taken down nearly two dozen 33.1 facilities this year alone! We've helped thousands of people. There are thousands of people out there that owe their lives to us!"

"All that's true, but what do we have to show for it?" He snapped, slamming down his glass and glaring intently at his friend. "Lex rebuilds his facilities almost as quickly as we destroy them, and it's only a matter of time before he starts taking advantage of Meta Humans again. Any time we take out a scum bag, three more seem to crawl out of the wood work."

He slumped back into his chair and picked up his glass. "I guess sometimes all of this seems pointless. Maybe Clark was right."

"You can't believe that." Victor answered, moving around in front of the team leader of his team.

"Why not?" He asked sadly. "When we took down that crime boss in Bludhaven, all we did was create a power vacuum. They've been in a state of gang warfare now for months."

"Bludhaven's always been that kind of town." Victor reminded him. "It needs a full-on colonic. Unless you plan to station us there for the next decade, we're not going to solve all its problems."

"I guess it's just thinking about another year of this that's getting to me." Oliver sighed. "I mean look at this. I'm young, rich, no attachments, and what am I doing for New Year? Sitting in a hut in the middle of the Alps."

"That's your choice remember." Victor chuckled. "We have beer and music downstairs. Maybe you'd like to join us?"

"Maybe that Wayne guy has the right idea." Oliver commented. "I mean, he's in the same situation as me, and I bet he isn't cooped up in come cave or sitting in a house alone. The last I heard he was paying some former race car driver in Monaco a million dollars to give him lessons in high-speed driving. He's probably at another of those media events of his with another supermodel on his arm."

"Oh right. So THAT'S what's bothering you." Cyborg replied with a sly grin.

"What?" He asked. Victor reached over, opening Oliver's laptop, showing the footage of Lois out with Chloe and Jimmy. It now looked like they had been joined at the table by Clark. "You know some people would call this stalking."

"I like to check in on her once in a while." Oliver replied, closing the laptop again.

"Using hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of surveillance software?" Victor asked. "Have you ever heard of E-mail?"

Oliver didn't answer. He just finished off his glass and poured another, before putting down his ice pack. Victor pulled up a chair and sat down with him.

"Look man, I know how it is losing a girl. Katherine tried to understand, she really did." He reminded him. "Lois actually told you she was willing to try. It was you that broke it off remember?"

"Maybe I'm having second thoughts." Oliver remarked. "Maybe it could work."

"Look, I can't tell you what to do, but do you really think it would be fair to pull her back into all of this now?" Victor asked him seriously. "You've dumped her twice now. Even if she could forgive that, do you really think it'd be fair to put her through that again?"

Oliver opened up his laptop, looking at the image one more time. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, at this exact moment in time; she seemed to be reaching across to Clark, touching his face. He felt himself becoming deeply conflicted. There was a part of him that was happy that she found someone that would treat her right. He knew and trusted Clark, and knew he would never do anything to harm her. On the other hand, there was a part of him that still longed to hold her in his arms, to have her by his side and feel her touch once more. He let out a sigh and downed the last of his scotch.

"I'll be down in a second." He told Cyborg. "Get another case of beer on ice."

As Victor left, Oliver pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial.

Back in Metropolis, Lois, Chloe, Jimmy and Clark were all having a great time in the restaurant. Lois was having a hard time keeping a straight face as Jimmy relayed another of his humorous stories from his time in the field taking photographs for the Planet. He seemed to have so many hilarious accidents as a result of his legendary clumsiness; it was amazing he had any time to take photos. The waiters cleared away the dishes from the first course.

"Now those were about the best ribs I've ever tasted." Clark commented, finishing with his wet-wipe. "I wouldn't say this to her face, but they're even better than mom's."

"Well I can see from here you enjoyed them Smallville." Lois chuckled, picking up a wet wipe. "You have sauce all over your face. Let me get that."

Chloe gave Clark a little suggestive glance as Lois leaned over, beginning to clean up his face, and gave her an icy glare. Chloe had taken to teasing him lately that Lois might just have a little crush on him, and regularly told him what a cute couple they'd make. He didn't want to hear it, they were only friends.

"There you go, all done." Lois chirped as she finished up. "Maybe you can learn how to get the food into your mouth in time for the main course."

At that point, her cell phone rang. Checking caller ID, she was stunned to see that it was Oliver.

"I've got to take this." She stammered as she made her way outside. Oliver tracked her outside on the cameras as she went out to answer him.

"Ollie?" She began as she answered.

"Hi Lois." He greeted her, stroking the screen longingly with his fingers. "Listen, I'm in Switzerland. It's just turned New Year over here. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Ollie, I haven't heard from you in months." She whispered into the mouthpiece, pulling some hair back behind her ear nervously. "I haven't seen you since, well, since you left."

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry things never worked out." He told her. "I wanted to start this year with a clean slate. I know I've hurt you and I'm sorry."

She never answered. It was only because of the video footage that Oliver could see that she pulled the phone away so he wouldn't hear her crying as she wiped away some tears.

"Are you coming back?" She finally asked him.

"I might one day, but I can't guarantee for how long. You deserve better than that." He told her. "I hope that we can stay friends. I really hope that someday you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."

"You don't need to wait for that." She replied. "I understand."

"Happy New Year Lois." He concluded."

"Happy New Year Oliver." She replied, before hanging up. Oliver flipped his cell phone away as Victor came back into the room.

"Are you coming?" He asked. Oliver clicked the close command on the video link as he saw Lois go back indoors. He still loved her, and there was a part of him that always would. He was glad she was getting on with her life without him.

"I'm just coming." He answered, switching off her laptop and closing it before finishing his scotch. "I can't wait to see Dinah dump Bart on his butt."

He went into the elevator and hit the button to go down into the bunker. Victor got a look of confusion on his face as he saw Oliver smiling.

"I thought you were depressed." He remarked.

"Nothing a little partying can't fix." He replied. "It's a new year. Maybe this one will be better." He looked forward to the New Year with a renewed optimism. If Lois could move on, maybe he could too.


End file.
